On June 3, the White House's National Partnership for Reinventing Government
awarded the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) its "Hammer Award"
for the agency's innovation in handling its workload. The same day, however,
the NLRB was sued for not taking any action in six years on a case involving
the use of union dues to fund political activity without member permission.

David and Sherry Pirlott's suit against Teamsters Local 75 in Green Bay,
Wisconsin was filed more than nine years ago by the National Right to Work
Legal Foundation, and is just one of more than 100 cases involving union
members trying to exercise their constitutional right to reclaim union dues
spent for political activity. In the case of the Pirlotts, NLRB action stopped
shortly after President Bill Clinton took office in 1992.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Vice President Stefan
Gleason said, "Since no other class of cases has been singled out for
delay, it's clear that the Clinton/Gore NLRB is deliberately protecting
Big Labor's ability to seize compulsory union dues for political activities."
This charge was seconded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,
which noted in an opinion that the NLRB "stand[s] out as a federal
administrative agency which has been rebuked before for what must strike
anyone as a cavalier disdain for the hardship it is causing."

Ironically, in his congratulatory letter to NLRB General Counsel Fred
Feinstein, Vice President Al Gore wrote, "Your successes in improving
the enforcement of the law... have made an important difference to the working
man and women of this country."

1996 Clinton Fundraising "Went Beyond Money Matters"

David Schippers, the former chief counsel of the House Judiciary Committee
during impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton, being interviewed
by Bill O'Reilly on the Fox News Channel on July 28, said the Justice Department's
suppressed report on 1996 campaign finance irregularities "went beyond
money matters... there were other repercussions of the campaign funds donated
by various individuals and entities" that point to donations being
used to buy influence in the Clinton White House.

Schippers asserted, "There was evidence in there which, in my opinion,
certainly should have required the appointment of a special prosecutor."

Schippers is one of the few people to actually read the full text of
former Justice Department investigator Charles LaBella's exhaustive report
on potential unethical and criminal conduct in raising funds for the 1996
Clinton reelection campaign. Against the urging of LaBella and FBI Director
Louis Freeh, Attorney General Janet Reno refused to appoint an independent
counsel and has not allowed the release of the LaBella report. According
to Schippers, members of Congress who requested a briefing on the report
were given a censored version in which "there were some 47 blank pages
in it which purported to carry the evidence backing up Mr. LaBella's report
and his conclusions."

Throughout the interview, Schippers was careful not to reveal too much
about what he read because he was ordered by the Justice Department not
to speak in specifics. Cautious not to incur legal and political reprisals,
he noted, "I was only permitted to discuss the contents of the memo
with [Judiciary Committee] Chairman [Henry] Hyde personally." In response
to O'Reilly asking, "so you... you fear them?" Schippers responded,
"Of course, I do... It's the most unregulated, unanswerable part of
the government... It's a totally out-of-control monster."

Campaign Finance Factoids

Al Gore Hangs Up on Big Money Calls

Once bitten, twice shy. Fearing a replay of the 1996 campaign finance
scandals, Vice President Al Gore has cut back on his personal phone solicitations
for his own presidential campaign. His tactic is backfiring, however, as
U.S. News and World Report reports big Democratic donors are "miffed"
about calls from Gore aides and not Gore himself.

Bradley Preaches More Campaign Finance Reform Than He Practices

Claiming "big money gets in the way" of the democratic process,
presidential candidate Bill Bradley advocates public funding of political
campaigns. But the Los Angeles Times reports Bradley's campaign has so
far raised only 2.6% of its money from individuals giving less than $250
- "the smallest percentage among the major candidates of either party."
Furthermore, his past record as a Senate candidate shows he rejected voluntary
campaign spending caps, took millions of dollars of what he now calls "destructive"
PAC money, was crowned "king of bundled contributions" by the
Center for Responsive Politics and raised most of his money from out-of-state
contributors.

Non-Profit Beats Government Attack on Issue Advocacy

On August 2, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green threw out most of
the Federal Election Commission's case against the Christian Coalition
that focused on the organization's use of issue-related voter guides in
the 1996 election. Regulation of issue advertising is a key component of
the proposed Shays-Meehan and McCain-Feingold campaign finance bills in
the House and Senate. Groups as diametrically opposed to the goals of the
Christian Coalition as the ACLU and the AFL-CIO nonetheless supported the
Coalition in the case. Coalition President Pat Robertson said, "This
is an important victory for all citizen groups."

Political Money Monitor is published by The
National Center for Public Policy Research to provide information on campaign
finance and political choice issues. Coverage of an event or article in
Political Money Monitor does not imply endorsement by The National Center
for Public Policy Research. Copyright 1999 The National Center for Public
Policy Research. Reprints of articles in Political Money Monitor are permitted
provided source is credited.